Abu Dhabi: Frenchman Luc Alphand stole the show while Czech driver Martin Prokop retained his overnight cars’ lead in the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge powered by Nissan on Tuesday as Sam Sunderland made a big move towards a second successive bikes’ title.
After gearbox problems had ruined his victory prospects 24 hours earlier, Alphand recovered to win the 281-km Al Ain Water Stage with 3 mins 42 secs to spare alongside German co-driver Andreas Schultz in a John Cooper Works Buggy.
“It was a perfect day for us. The car was really good, especially in the dunes — we really enjoyed it. Yesterday’s gearbox problem started at just the 40k mark. It was the gear selection — we could only go downwards, so we stayed in second gear. But that is what happens with the development of a car,” said a delight Alphand.
Partnered by David Pabiska in a Ford F-150 Evo, overnight leader Prokop was third fastest on the day to finish the leg with a reduced advantage of 8 mins 40.2 secs from Poland’s Jakub Przygonski and Belgian co-driver Tom Colsoul, second quickest on the day in a Mini John Cooper.
The UAE’s defending champion Shaikh Khalid Al Qasimi suffered a major setback in his Abu Dhabi Racing Team 3008 DKR, losing 30 minutes because of a broken drive shaft. While he retained third place overall, he now lies more than 45 minutes off the lead.
“We had a broken drive shaft 30kms and we had to stop for 30mins. There were lots of big, scary dunes today,” said Al Qasimi after the stage.
Dubai-based Sunderland, meanwhile, dominated on the bikes, winning the stage by just over six minutes from KTM team-mate Matthias Walkner to take a 7 mins 34 secs overall lead from the Austrian rider who succeeded him as Dakar Rally champion just over two months ago.
Argentinian Kevin Benavides, on a Honda, was third fastest to finish the leg another 2 mins 14 secs further adrift, just ahead of overnight leader Pablo Quintanilla in fourth on his Husqvarna. Honda riders Paulo Goncalves from Portugal and American Ricky Brabec completed the top six.
The rally ended abruptly for top UAE rider Mohammad Al Beloushi, who had to be shifted by helicopter to hospital for a scan after crashing on the stage. The recent Dubai International Baja winner was clearly shaken, but not seriously injured.
It was a day when Alphand once again underlined how quickly and dramatically fortunes can change in the Desert Challenge, which over the years has dogged many of the world’s top cross-country rally stars.
After a two-minute penalty had denied him the lead at the end of the first leg, he had a dreadful time on Monday’s Nissan stage, plummeting down the field because of gearbox problems which even prevented him from stopping to describe his experience to the waiting media.
From the start today, however, the 2006 champion was flying among the dunes with all the style and confidence that made him the World Cup downhill skiing champion before he switched to motor sport in 1997. Fastest to the first checkpoint, he continued to set a pace all of his own throughout the stage.
